(by Elisa Cecchi).
A new wind is blowing through Milan fashion week.
It started with Gucci's Alessandro Michele and his intellectual vision of womanhood, and continued through the second day of women's wear shows with Emilio Pucci's completely new touch from MSGM creative director Massimo Giorgetti.
Giorgetti, who was debuting his first collection for the Florentine fashion house, has been a rising star of Italian fashion since he launched his successful label MSGM in 2009. Known for his colorful pizzazz and ability to overhaul iconic staples such as the Chanel jacket into funky bestsellers, he appeared like the ideal match to take on Pucci after Peter Dundas in March resigned as creative director to take over another Florentine label, Roberto Cavalli.
And overhaul the label he did in the spring-summer 2016 lineup he presented on Thursday.
His sea-inspired collection included subtle hints at classic Pucci prints while glitter shimmered throughout the show.
Yet the unique, aristocratic mantle of one of Italy's top heritage houses that has weighed on the shoulders of a number of talents who have walked in and out of its doors, did not appear to stifle Giorgetti's sparkly style.
His collection clearly targeted a younger audience with casual silhouettes defining stylish streetwear and an aura of trendiness replacing Dundas' glamour.
''Ever since I was little, Pucci's spring collections meant the sea, evoking places like Saint Tropez and Capri, so going through the archives I studied all the label's key elements before it became famous with optical prints'', said Giorgetti, who in April became creative director of the house founded in 1947 by the Marquis Emilio Pucci.
The fashion house is today owned by French luxury group LVMH.
Giorgetti drew inspiration from prints dating back to the 1950s and 1960s and used by Pucci for his foulards with big seashells, sea gulls, mermaids, fishermen and fish.
The past was ''reviewed with a contemporary vision because it should not smell of vintage'', noted Giorgetti.
The Milan-based designer, who spends two days a week at the label's Florentine headquarters in Palazzo Pucci, clearly expressed his intentions after getting the job in a press release featuring two models wearing T-shirts with the message: ''Like blank paper - a new story to tell''.
And the new story Giorgetti began to tell for next spring was full of transparent fabrics mixed with metallic pleated skirts. The casual dresses and tops he debuted featured the new logo 'Emilio' in macramé as did the sandals and funky bags.
And the clashing prints that have turned MSGM into one of the most successful new launches in an era when Italian fashion has struggled to nurture new labels, were revisited Pucci-style.
The colors and sparkle of Pucci were all there - but shaped into something new.
Giorgetti mixed materials and volumes, layering sequin dresses over long-sleeve lace or pleated sheaths.
He mingled sheer black or white tops with matching sheer trousers embroidered with shells.
Sequin tops and dresses also featured sea-inspired prints, in Pucci's classic bold summer colors - pink, green and blue.
There were furry slippers - a hot trend in Milan - and there were feathers.
''Emilio Pucci was a revolutionary in the 1960s, he thought about pieces that were 'easy to wear' - a concept I want to translate into 'easy to desire'', said Giorgetti.
Lightness and sparkle were not part of the storyline at Fendi, where Karl Lagerfeld designed a collection strong in leather, featuring snakeskin trench coats and bomber jackets and even a one-piece swimming suit in black leather.
The leather was akin to a body armor giving edge to clothes with an Edwardian touch seen in the high necks and puffed sleeves.
The armor-like quality of clothes was enhanced by bold colors - red, black, blue, white and olive green.
There were short dresses with big sleeves and a smocked bodice and there were boxy jackets and stunning boxy bags.
Yet beyond the bold silhouettes, it was the craftsmanship that caught the attention - the braiding and stitching.
Shoes were also sculptural and, as expected at Fendi, there were furs to add warmth to this tough summer collection.
Miuccia Prada gave a completely new rendition of her classic kitsch- meets-good-taste approach.
And Prada's post-classic vision of elegance translated into a strong focus on suits.
The emphasis was on skirt suits, which included short and knee-length skirts, with finely cropped jackets.
A pale leather skirt suit opened the show with a blouson-shaped jacket and soft skirt reaching the knee.
There were suits in mismatched tweeds and sheer suits.
Dropped-waist silk dresses resonated with the collection's sense of nostalgia, echoing the 1950s and its obsession with a formal brand of elegance. The dresses were styled over tank tops - in stark contrast with their elegance.
Indeed the collection's glamour was charged with sense of humor, highlighted by diverse quotes ranging from 1970s patterns to Tom Dixon furniture to celebrate memories of bygone times.
The Inside bag launched by Prada earlier this year - the house's most important launch of a bag since the Galleria eight years ago yet also a mockery of the It bag - starred in a bold color palette.
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